Typewriting machine



Oct. 3, 1939. c. WITTENMYER 2,174,713

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE Filed Aug. 17, 1957 Patented Oct. 3, 1939 STATES ATENT GFFHCE TYPEWRITING MACHINE Carlos Wittenmyer, Mount Clemens, Mich, assignor to International Business Machines rporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York This invention relates to ypewriting machines, more particularly to fan fold or continuous billing machines,

The present invention is an improvement on fan fold or continuous billing machine disclosed in application Serial No. 127,684 filed February 25,

1937, in the name of C. H. Beiderbecke.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a latching mechanism for the carbon stripper carriage which facilitates the stripping of the carbons preparatory to typing a new set of forms.

Another object isto provide a latching mechanism which positively holds the carbon stripper carriage in retracted position during the stripping of the carbons yet is quickly releasable and does not interfere with the line spacing of the forms during the making of entries thereon,

Another object is to provide a latching mechanism to the carbon stripper carriage which is rendered effective by quick application of tension to the leading edges of the forms.

An object is to provide a latching mechanism which may be easily applied to machines now in the field without extensive alterations in or rebuilding of such machines;

A further object is to provide a latching mechanism which is relatively simple in construction and comprises few moving parts.

Further objects of the instant invention reside in any novel feature of construction or operation or novel combination of parts present in the embodiment of the invention described and shown in the accompanying drawing whether within or without the scope of the appended claims and irrespective of other specific statements as to the scope of the givention contained herein.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a right side elevation of a fan fold or continuous billing machine embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the latching mechanism; a

Fig. 3 is a large scale perspective view of the latching mechanism.

The present invention is illustrated in the drawing as applied to a forms carrier designed for use in conjunctionwith the International electric writing maohineQformerly known as Electromaticff However. the invention is not limited in its application to the specific type of forms carrier disclosed in the aforementioned application but may be; applied to other forms carriers as 'well, for instance, the one disclosed in Patent'No. 1,132,055 wherein is described a fan fold billing machine now well known in the art. It will be understood, therefore, that the. present invention is not limited to either the specific forms carrier selected for the purpose of illustrating the invention, nor to the specific form of the invention shown in the drawing. Since the forms carrier and the machine to which it is attached is now well known and fully described in the aboveapplication, neither the machine nor the forms carrier will be described in detail herein.

The numeral l0 generally designates the typewriter having the carriage ll provided with extension plates l2 on which are pivoted arms like l3 supporting a platen generally designated 14. In the drawing, the platen is normally held in writing position by means of latches like l5 which are pivotally mounted on the arms [3 and are releasable by means of a hand lever l6 pivotally mounted on one of the arms l3. When the latch operating lever I6 is raised by hand, the initial movement thereof releases the latches I5 and thereafter continued movement of the lever I 6 causes arms l3 to be rocked in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1) to raise the platen to an elevated position.

When the platen is in elevated position, the arms l3 engage stop lugs l2a formed. in

frame extensions l2.

The forms carrier is mounted on a framework generally designated ll (Fig. 1) made of tubing which is adjustably secured at l8 to the rear portion of the base of the typewriter l0 and has a rail l9 which extends parallel with the carriage guiding rails 20. The forms carrier includes an elongated plate 2| movably supported on rail I9 by means of rollers 22 carried by a bracket 23 secured to the underside of the plate 2|. The front end of the plate 2|, which is the left hand end in Fig. l, is removably attached to the frame extensions l2 by means of a bracket 24.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the edges of the plate 2| are bent upwardly and outwardly to provide divergent flanges 2Ia for guiding the carbon stripper carriage for movement longitudinally of the plate 2|. The carbon stripper carriage comprises a plate 25 removably' supporting a plurality of'carbon sheet anchoring blades 26 which, with the carbon sheets anchored thereby, are interleaved with a pack of fan folded or continuous superposed webs. Grooved rollers 21. mounted on the underside of plate 25 engage the edges ofvthe Any suitable means such as handle 28 may be "provided for the purpose of retracting theicarbon stripper carriage '25, As an alternative to using the handle 28, the carbon stripper carriage may be retracted by a spring as in the case of the carriage disclosed in Patent No. 1,132,055. A stop rod 29 (see Figs. 2 and 3) is mounted upon the top surface of the plate 2| and extends longitudinally of said plate. Adjustably mounted on the stop rod 28 is a stop 3|] having a resilient buffer 3| which is in the plane of the plate 25 whereby the retracting movements of the carbon stripper carriage may be adjustably limited.

Pivoted on a bracket 32 secured to the plate 25, above and slightly to one side of the rod 29, is a member 33 to which is secured a latch member 34 formed with lugs 34a on which is rotatably mounted aroller 35 riding on the top surface of the plate 2| between the stop rod 29 and the flange 2 la. The member 34 is also provided with a rearwardly extending portion- 34b formedinto a hook. Adjustably mounted on the stop rod 29 is a block 36 having a thumb screw 31 by means of which the block 36 may be positioned along rod 29 a predetermined distance from the stop which limits the retracting movements of the carbon stripper carriage. Secured to the block 36 is a keeper member 38 which may be made of very stiff wire bent upwardly, forwardly, and horizontally parallel with the rear edge of the plate 25 so as to extend parallel with the top surface of the plate 2| and at right angles to a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of rod 29. The horizontal portion 38a of member 38 thus extends over the member 33 when the carbon stripper carriage abuts the stop 30. A cam member 39 also made of stiff wire is secured to block 36 and is bent somewhat similarly to the member 38, but extends beneath the member 33 close to the top surface of plate 29 whereby the horizontal portion 39a of cam member 33 is located in front of the corresponding portion of member 38.

In order to explain the operation of the latching mechanism, it will be assumed that a pack of fan folded or continuous superposed webs with interleaved carbons anchored to the blades 26 is wrapped around the platen and extends rearwardly over the plate 2| and plate 25 and around the rear portion of the forms carrier between side guides 40 and that the carbon stripper carriage 25 initially occupies the position shown in the drawing preparatory to typing a form. The rotation of the platen M in the course of typing upon the forms wrapped around the platen causes the carriage 25 to-be drawn forwardly or to the left in Fig. 1. As the carriage 25 moves forwardly away from the stop 3| the roller 35 will ultimately strike the horizontal portion 39a of the cam member 39 and will ride over said horizontal portion, the roller progressively moving to the left as the forms are line spaced. I

When the typing of the form is completed and it is desired to retract the carbons to the next set of forms, the platen I4 is raised by lifting the lever I6. Thecarbon stripper carriage 25 is now moved back to the position shown in the drawing and this may be accomplished by means of the handle 28. This causes the pack of forms with interleaved carbon sheets to be moved rearwardly, the roller 35 again riding over the portion 39a. of member 39.- The next operation is to strip the carbons from the typed forms and move'the carbons back to the succeeding set of forms.

- In order to do this, the leading edges of the forms, which now lie flat upon the top of plate 2|, are grasped with the operator's fingers and a quick tug is given the forms. This causes the carbon stripper carriage 25 to move to the left very quickly with the result that the roller 35 strikes the portion 39a of member 39 and, instead of merely riding easily over said portion 3911. the roller 35 and hence members 33, 34 bounds upwardly, pivoting on the bracket 32. This causes the hook-shaped portion 38b to engage the horizontal portion 38a of member 38 thereby preventing further movement of the carbon stripper carriage 25 to the left. If now tension is maintained upon the leading edges of the forms so as to draw them forwardly, the forms may be drawn up against the usual leading edge gage 4| which is adjustably mounted on a rod 42 carried by the front cover 43 of the typewriter I0.

Since the carbon sheets remain stationary while the forms are being drawn forwardly, the carbon sheets will be positioned in registry with the next set of forms. By relaxing of tension on the forms prior to lowering the platen or, if necessary, pushing rearwardly on the handle 28 to move the carriage 25 back against the stop 3|, the member 34 will be permitted to drop back to the released position shown in Fig. 2. The platen may now be lowered, the typed forms torn off in the usual way against the knife provided for this purpose and the typing of the next set of forms may proceed.

Whenever a quick tug is given a pack of forms greater than ordinarily would be imparted to the forms by the normal line spacing operation, it is, of course, true that the inertia of the forms and the stripper carriage, friction, etc. will undoubtedly cause some shifting movement between the carbon sheets andthe forms. This, however, has no harmful effect as the shifting movement takes place in the desired direction and is supplemental to the shifting movement which takes place as a consequence of the continuous tension applied to the forms after the member 34 has become effective to latch the carbon stripper carriage in its retracted position.

It will be noted that the plate 2| inclines downwardly away from the carriage whereby there is some tendency for the carbon stripper carriage to roll back to the position of Fig. 1 by gravity. By increasing the inclination of the plate 2| so that it slopes sharplydownwardly, it is possible to retract the carbon stripper carriage 25 and the forms by gravity. It is not desired,.therefore, to be limited to a carbon stripper carriage which is positively retracted as by means of a handle like 28, or by a spring or other mechanical means as this function may be performed by gravity.

While there has been shown and describedand pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: V

1. In a continuous billing machine, the combination with a reciprocable forms carrier, of coacting latch members, and a cam member cooperating with one of the latch members whereby aquick tug on the leading edges of the forms causes the cam member to effect engagement of the latching members.

2. In a continuous billing machine, a forms carrier, a support on which the forms carrier is movably mounted, a carbon stripper carriage movable on the forms carrier, a latch member, a cam member fixedly mounted on the forms carrier, and a second latch member pivotally mounted on the carbon stripper carriage, said cam member being operative, when a quick movement is imparted to the stripper carriage, to cause the latch members to operatively engage.

3. The combination with the carriage ofa typewriter, of a support mounted rearwardly of the carriage, a forms carrier movably mounted on said support and connected to the carriage whereby the forms carrier moves with the carriage, a carbon stripper carriage movably mounted on the forms carrier so as to be movable toward and away from the carriage, cooperating latch members mounted on the carbon stripper carriage and on the forms carrier respectively, and means operative upon a quick movement of the carbon stripper carriage toward the carriage of the typewriter for causing the cooperating latching members to engage.

4-. In a continuous billing machine, the combination with the carriage of the typewriter, of a platen movably mounted in said carriage so as to be positionable from a typing to a non-typing position, a support located rearwardly of said carriage, a forms carrier movably mounted on said support and attached to the typewriter carriage whereby the forms carrier travels with the typewriter carriage; a carbon stripper carriage slidably mounted on the forms carrier, said carbon stripper carriage having means'interleaved with the forms on said' carrier for anchoring carbon sheets to said carbon stripper carriage whereby,.when the platen is displaced to a nontyping position, the carbon sheets and the forms may be drawn rearwardly of the typewriter carriage to straighten the webs comprising the forms; cooperating latching members, one mounted on the forms carrier and the other mounted on the carbon stripper carriage whereby, when the carbon stripper carriage is fully retracted, said latching members are brought into a prelatching position; and means operative as a consequence of a quick tug on the leading edges of the forms for moving the latching members into engagement whereby to hold the carbon stripper carriage while continuous tension is applied to the forms to efiect a relative shifting movement between the carbon sheets and the forms.

5. In a continuous billing machine, the combination with the carriage of the typewriter, of a platen movably mounted in said carriage so as to be displaceable from a typing to a non-typing position, a frame located rearwardly of the carriage, a forms carrier plate connected at its forward end to the typewriter carriage so as to be movable therewith, said plate being movably mounted on said frame a carbon stripper carriage mounted on said plate for movement toward and away from the platen, means on said stripper carriage for anchoring carbon sheets interleaved with the forms supported by said carbon stripper carriage and said plate and wrapped around the platen; an adjustable stop for limiting retracting movement of the carbon stripper carriage, an adjustable latch member located a spaced distance from said stop; a latch member pivotally mounted on the carbon stripper carriage and engageable with said adjustable latch member, said second named latch member having a roller riding on the top surface of said plate; and a cam member located in the path of movement of said roller and operative upon a sudden forward movement of the carbon stripper carriage to cause the second named latch member to engage the first named latch member, said cam member being inefiective to cause latching engagement between said latch members when the platen is line spaced to feed the forms.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a reciprocable carriage, of a track upon which said carriage is mounted, a latch member pivotally mounted in said carriage and having a roller riding on said track, a latch member fixedly mounted on the track and having a latching portion extending over the path of movement of the pivoted latch member but normally out of said path, and latch controlling means on said track for causing the pivoted latch member to fly into latching enagement with the fixed latch member when a sudden movement is imparted to said carriage, said latch controlling means being inoperative to cause engagement between the latch members when the carriage is moved slowly or in short increments of movement.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a reciprocable carriage and a track for supporting said carriage, of a latch member pivoted on said carriage and having a hooked portion and a roller riding on said track to support said latching member in an incumbent position, a fixed latch element extendin over the line of travel of the pivoted latch member but out of the path of movement of the hooked portion thereof, and a cam member mounted on said track in the path of movement of said roller, said cam member being operative upon a quick continuous forward movement of said carriage to cause the pivoted latch member to swing upwardly so as to engage the hooked portion thereof with the fixed latch member, said cam member, when the carriage is moved slowly or in short increments, being inoperative to effect engagement of the hooked portion in the pivoted latching member with the fixed latching member.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a reciprocable carriage and a track upon which said carriage is mounted, of an adjustable stop for limiting movement of said carriage in one direction, a pivoted latch member mounted in the carriage, a latch block adjustable in the direction of movement of said carriage, a latch member mounted on said block, a latch operating element also mounted in said block, said second latch member and said. operating element being spaced apart to permit the pivoted latch element to assume a position between the latch operating'element and the second latch member when the carriage is arrested by said stop, said latch operating element being engageable with the pivoted latch member wnereby to cause the latter to move into engagement with the second named latch member when the carriage is moved quickly away from the stop and being inoperative to cause the pivoted latch element to engage the fixed latch member when the carriage .is moved relatively slowly or by short increments of movement.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a carbon stripper carriage, means to mount said carriage for reciprocatory movement, an adjustable stop for limiting movement of said carriage in one direction, cooperating the other fixedly mounted with respect to the mounting means for the carriage, and a latch operating element, said latch operating element and one of the latch elements being spaced apart to-permit the other latch element to pass between when the carriage is brought against the stop, said latch operating element being operative upon a rapid and continuous movement of the carriage away from said stop to cause the second named latching element to move into engagement with the latching element which is spaced from the latch operating element.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a carbon stripper carriage, a support on which said carriage is mounted for reciprocatory movement, means to limit movement of the carriage in one direction, a pair of cooperative latching elements, one mounted on the carriage and the other mounted on said support, and a latch operating element located a spaced distance relative to one of the latching elements, said latch operating element causing the other latching element to move into engagement with the first latching element on a rapid movement of the carriage away from the limiting means.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a track, a carriage movably mounted on said track, a pair of cooperative latching elements, one mounted on the carriage and the other being mounted independently of the carriage, and latch controlling means operative upon a rapid movement of the carriage to cause operative engagement between the said latch elements, said controlling means being inoperative to cause engagement of said elements 'when the carriage is moved relatively slowly.

12. In a continuous billing machine, the combination with the carriage of the typewriter, a forms carrier, 8. carbon stripper carriage mounted on the forms carrier so as to be movable toward and away from the typewriter carriage, latching means for the carbon stripper carriage, and means responsive to a rapid movement of the carbon stripper carriage toward the typewriter carriage for causing said latching means to engage and prevent more than a predetermined movement of the carbon stripper carriage toward the typewriter carriage.

13. In a machine of the class described, in combination with the carriage of the typewriter, a carbon sheet carrier movable toward and away from the typewriter carriage, an adjustable stop for limiting movement of said carrier away from the typewriter carriage, and means operative upon rapid movement of said carrier toward the typewriter carriage for limiting movement of the carriage to a predetermined extent.

14. In a machine of the class described, the

combination with the carriage of the typewriter,

a carbon sheet carrier movable toward and away from the typewriter carriage, holding means for the carrier, and means operative upon the application of a quick tug to the carbon sheets for rendering the holding means effective.

15. In a machine of the class described, in combination with the carriage of the typewriter, a carbon sheet carrier movable toward and away from the carriage, a pair of coacting latch members, one stationary with respect to the carbon sheet carrier and the other movable with the carrier, and latch operating means stationary with respect to one of the latching members for causing the latching members to operatively engage upon a rapid movement of the carbon sheet carrier, said means being inefiective when the carbon sheet carrier is moved relatively. slowly.

16. In a continuous billing machine the'combination with the carriage and platen and platen line spacing mechanism, a forms carrier having a carbon sheet anchoring and forms supporting devicemovable toward the platen by the linespace mechanism in line-spacing the forms and movable rearwardly of the platen as an incident to effecting a displacement of the carbon sheets from one set of forms to the next succeeding set of forms, a latch member on said device, a relatively fixed latch member, and means to automatically effect engagement between the latch members responsive to a materially quicker movement of said device toward the platen than can be eifected by the line-spacemechanism.

CARLOS WI'I'I'ENMYER. 

